


Licence to Steele - Redux

by NorahBolt56



Category: Remington Steele (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-05-16 17:33:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19322869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorahBolt56/pseuds/NorahBolt56
Summary: This is a stand alone piece which explores the question - what if Laura and Remington (or Ben Pearson as he was calling himself then) had had a one night stand the day they met in 'Licence to Steele'? There is also a scene included from 'Tempered Steele'. Thank you to the wonderful RS writers for the dialogue I have borrowed from these episodes.





	1. Chapter 1

Laura stared at the photo of the man with ‘the blue eyes and mysterious past’, wondering to herself, “Who are you?”. The chiselled jaw, the matinee idol good looks, the lock of hair falling over his forehead, just like it had when they were.. . She couldn’t help but remember how it had felt to have those full lips kiss her, those hands with the long, slender fingers caress her..

“Don’t you get enough of the real thing?” Bernice’s voice broke her out of her reverie as she came into Laura’s office with the sandwich she’d grabbed for her when she’d popped out for lunch.

“What?” Laura asked, trying to look normal and not betray where her thoughts had been wandering. Little did Bernice know she’d had the real thing and though she’d told herself (and him) that it couldn’t happen again, she knew that she hadn’t had enough of him and she longed for more. She had wondered if she should tell Bernice all of what had happened between her and ‘Mr Steele’ or Ben Pearson, or whatever the hell his real name was, the night of the day he had walked into her life. But given the arrangement they had come to, they had agreed not to tell anyone and just keep it between the two of them.

Part of her felt bad not telling Bernice, who as well as her secretary had been her confidant and friend for a couple of years now, and as friends did, they usually told each other everything – especially when it came to their love lives. Not that Laura had had much of a one of late. Oh there’d been a few guys she’d dated after Wilson left her – Norman the stockbroker came to mind and a couple of others, but nothing serious. She’d been so busy working her butt off to make the agency a success she really hadn’t had the time anyway – well that’s what she’d tried to tell herself at any rate. If she was being perfectly honest with herself, the real reason was she was afraid. Afraid of being hurt again.

And that was another reason she was hesitant to tell Bernice the whole story. Because if she did, she knew she would be tempted to admit something she was scared to admit even to herself – she felt something for *him*. She had gone back to his hotel room that night with the intention of just having a one night stand – a bit of fun with an incredibly attractive, sexy man and scratch the itch she’d had for a while. What she hadn’t planned on was them having a connection that night that went deeper than just the physical – well she certainly had felt it, she wasn’t sure how he felt though. But there had been something when their eyes met at that magical moment, their hands entwined, something more that she certainly hadn’t been expecting.

Laura had always taken a logical approach to life – it suited her mathematical mind, and she didn’t really give much heed to notions like fate. But in that moment, all her logic and reasoning had gone out of her head and she had felt, as crazy as she knew it was, that their meeting had been destined to occur and that this man would change her life forever.

Bernice nodded towards the photo, bringing Laura’s attention back to the present.

“Oh.. I happened to come across it on my desk”, she tried to cover quickly but Bernice wasn’t convinced.

“Hey this is me remember? The belle of the ball, the life of the party – I’ve seen that look before, I’ve even had it a few times myself,” Bernice replied, giving her friend a knowing look.

Laura picked up the photo again, holding the sandwich Bernice had brought her in the other hand. “Who is he? What was he before he was Remington Steele?” she voiced aloud her earlier question.

“Who cares? He’s here, you’re here – go for it,” Bernice urged her, not knowing she already had.

“Then what?” Laura asked the question that had been on her mind since the day barely two months ago now that she had found him sitting behind ‘Mr Steele’s’ desk and they had come to their ‘arrangement’. She’d told him quite firmly that for this arrangement between them to work that they couldn’t mix business with pleasure  - they should just carry on as if that night had never happened and it could never happen again. Problem was, that was easier said than done – especially when he kept trying to get her to change her mind and part of her wanted to do just that as well.

“Depends what you’re looking for. Me? I’m all partied out. What I want is a slightly dull, filthy rich husband. But if I were in the market for a heart stopping, teeth rattling, eye rolling fling..,” Bernice replied as she pretended to shoot the ‘target’ in the photo.

A rueful laugh escaped Laura’s lips as she thought to herself – that’s exactly what that night had been. He was by far the best lover she had ever had – her teeth had been well and truly rattled. “You know it’s not just the free ride that keeps this clown around – its the challenge. I’m probably the only woman he’s ever met who didn’t tumble right into bed with him,” she stated, going along with the charade. Well technically that was true, she thought a little wryly – she didn’t tumble right into bed with him,  it had been almost twelve hours since she’d first met him.

“Not a bad way to break the ice,” Bernice stated with a cheeky grin.

“Yeah,”’ Laura had to agree with a sigh – it certainly had been. “But I can barely keep him in line now - can you imagine what he’d be like if we turned that corner?” Again, she added silently. When she had gone back to his hotel room she had thought she wouldn’t see him again after he left in a few days time – all she would have would be the memories of the amazing night they had spent together, so she had thrown caution to the wind.  But now everything had changed.

“Might be fun finding out” Bernice retorted, and despite herself, part of Laura agreed. Wild, crazy Laura she thought to herself – who acted before she thought. She should have known better – that part of her had got her into trouble before and she was loathe to let that happen again. So she decided, as hard as it might be, to focus on the agency and not lose her head again over *him*.

“I’ve worked too hard to risk everything just to get my teeth rattled,” Laura stated, trying to convince Bernice as well as herself, as she took a bite of her sandwich.

“So where does that leave you?” Bernice asked.

Laura pondered the question then replied with a mischievous grin as she shook her head and sat back down in her chair, “Itchy.” She’d had a taste, but she was itching for another…

 When he had walked into the agency office, purportedly as Special Agent Ben Pearson, she had never suspected how much he would change her carefully ordered life – but change it he certainly had. Whether for better or worse though she still wasn’t exactly sure…


	2. Chapter 2

_Two months before…_

Harry, or should he call himself Ben?, he wondered to himself with a chuckle, hopped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around himself. He’d used a variety of names over the years, including the ones on the five passports he had hidden in his luggage but Harry was the one he felt most comfortable with, the one his mentor and often partner in crime, Daniel called him. Little did he realise then he was about to adopt another name as his own on a permanent basis.

As he dressed he thought about the events of the day. After learning the Remington Steele detective agency would be looking after security for the Royal Lavulite, he had headed to their office under the guise of Special Agent Ben Pearson, hoping to glean some information that would assist him in his plans to ‘acquire, the jewels – ‘steal’ was such an ugly word, he mused. And when he’d returned them to their rightful owner there would be a hefty finder’s fee waiting for him which would come in very handy. And while he had indeed gained some useful information he had also found something or rather someone else, which was unexpected but very welcome nonetheless.

When he’d entered the agency and found the front desk unattended and no sign of anyone about, he called out a greeting and then headed towards one of the offices which had its door slightly ajar, to find two young women and a man, who he had assumed was Remington Steele, incorrectly as it turned out.

The darker brunette woman, Miss Wolf or something like that from memory, had been openly flirting with him – with his looks and charm, he was used to that. And while she was attractive, it was the other woman who had captured his attention – Laura Holt, she’d introduced herself as. Perhaps it was her deep brown eyes, or the lilt in her voice, or her note of indignation when he’d assumed she was a secretary, informing him quite emphatically that she was a licensed private investigator - there was definitely something about her that intrigued him.

 So he followed her later that evening. Ostensibly to find out more about the agency’s security plans for the jewels, but he knew there was more to it than that. He wanted to spend time with her, get to know her more – oh admit it sport, you want to sleep with her, he thought to himself as a boyish lopsided grin crossed his face.  Unseen by her, he watched her go into the hotel’s bar and take a seat at a table, checking her watch as if she was waiting for someone. Better not muck around mate, he thought to himself as he walked into the bar and took a seat at a table not far from her’s and gestured to a waiter.

Laura had not long sat down when a waiter came over to her table and put a glass down in front of her and proceeded to open a magnum of champagne.

“I didn’t order this,” she stopped him.

“The gentleman wishes to buy you a drink,” the waiter replied as he nodded towards a nearby table.

She looked over to see him – Special Agent Ben Pearson - sitting there, watching her intently as he raised his glass. What was he doing here? she wondered to herself, although she had to admit she was very glad to see him.

“Tell the gentleman I appreciate the gesture but I’m waiting for someone,” she informed the waiter as he popped the cork and Mr Pearson got up from his table and walked over to her. He looked even more handsome, if that were possible she thought to herself, than he had done earlier that day when he’d walked into her office. He was now wearing a navy blue suit with a red tie and matching handkerchief in his jacket pocket, with a light blue white collared shirt. Boy that man sure looks good in a suit she found herself thinking, as she tried not to drown in his blue eyes.

Forcing a neutral if somewhat amused look onto her face she asked him, “A magnum of champagne?”

“You looked thirsty,” he deadpanned.

“Do you always do everything on such a grand scale Mr Pearson?” she asked curiously, wondering what he was playing at.

“Only when I’m aroused.. with curiosity,” he answered, his eyes never leaving hers, waiting to see what effect his innuendo laden statement would have on her. Truth was he was aroused and becoming even more so as he looked at her. “May I?” he asked politely as he gestured towards the seat opposite her. When she didn’t protest he took the opportunity to sit down.

Cradling his hands together, without cracking so much as a smile he then asked her, “Tell me Miss Holt – when did you become a dick?”

“I beg your pardon?” she asked as she almost choked on the champagne, wondering if she’d heard him correctly.

“Isn’t that what you Americans call a private detective?” he replied, trying to hide the grin that was threatening to cross his face.

“Only in the movies,” she replied with the hint of a dimpled smile as she took another sip of champagne then continued, “I always loved excitement, so I studied and apprenticed and eventually joined a large detective agency.”

“And did it fulfill your fantasies?” he asked, his eyes boring into hers as he found himself wondering what fantasies she had and thinking to himself he’d like to help her fulfill a few.

“The work was rewarding, the recognition was nil. It seemed no matter how successful my efforts were, the lion’s share of the credit always went to my male counterparts, regardless of their contribution,” Laura replied, wondering why she was practically telling him her life story.

“Tawdry thing – this male chauvinism,” he commented.

“You exhibited a little of it yourself,” she threw at him with a hint of irritation.

“Oh? How so?”, he asked with some surprise, enjoying the banter with her. This was certainly shaping up to be a very different conversation than he usually had with women, but he was starting to get the feeling Miss Holt was not like any woman he had met before.

“When you instantly assumed I was a secretary,” she stated emphatically.

He regarded her for a moment. “You must admit your occupation is highly unusual for a woman. Especially one of such breeding and intelligence,” he replied, throwing in the last bit because it was true and because he knew if he wanted any chance of getting lucky with her he had to play the game differently than he usually did. She was no fool, he could see that, and she wasn’t about to fall for just any old line. If she did agree to spend the night with him he knew it would be on her terms.

“You carry the same prejudice most people do  - because of my sex you think I’m not built for the job,”  she accused him, a slight frown furrowing her brow and he momentarily thought he’d blown his chance and ticked her off – time to change tack sport he decided, opting to try for humour instead.

He took a sip of champagne from his own glass then responded, “Hmm, it is a rather rough and tumble trade. At least the way it’s portrayed in your cinema,” and as he noticed the hint of a smile return to her face, he felt his own features relaxing in response. “All those blazing guns and smashing fists,” he added, gesturing with his hands for effect as her smile got a little wider.

“Believe me it requires more brain than brawn,” she replied.

Alright, in for the kill mate, he thought mischievously to himself, then said, “I take it sex isn’t a problem for Remington Steele – yours that is.”

She paused for a moment, but only a moment, trying not to show her reaction to his statement. Then she composed herself. Two can play that game buster she thought to herself, realizing what he was trying to do. And she had to admit, she was enjoying their flirtatious, innuendo laden banter as much as he was. There was something intoxicating about the chemistry that was sizzling between them and she knew it wasn’t only the champagne.

“On the contrary - he’s the most generous, understanding, supportive man I could imagine,” she practically gushed, as she raised her glass as if in toast to the man. And imagine him she had and it was working like a charm, she thought to herself with more than a hint of pride.

He looked at her curiously. There was something in her eyes as she said that - it was almost a look of..pride he thought. Daniel had taught him to read people from an early age, and though she had her guard up, she had let it down for a moment there he noticed, which intrigued him.

“He seems to have rather large shoes to fill,” he remarked, thinking this guy sounded too good to be true.

“‘Few would be foolish enough to try,” she stated adamantly, her tone almost challenging.

“Unless of course one enjoyed impossible challenges,” he shot back, his eyes never leaving hers. Then since they had got onto the topic of her as yet unseen boss, he decided to get the business part of the conversation over and done with it, so he could focus again on more pleasant things, like trying to seduce her.

“Will he be involved tomorrow?” he asked, keeping his voice casual.

“Mr Steele’s prescence will be felt rather than seen,” Laura informed him which he found interesting.

“And his associate?’’

“Murphy Michaels.”

“I certainly hope he’s involved in the thick of things. Seems an awfully competent chap,” he commented.

“Oh he’ll play a vital role,” she confirmed as he nodded, thinking to himself that his hunch was right – he would actually move the jewels out in the laundry truck while Miss Holt played decoy. A clever plan he had to admit – it was a shame he was going to have to thwart it.

“Till tomorrow then,“ he said, his eyes twinkling at her as they clinked their glasses together in a toast, “may everything go as smoothly as I hope,” thinking not only of the next day but of the night ahead. There it was again - that dimpled smile of hers that did something to him he couldn’t quite explain.

Laura was tempted to stay longer and continue this conversation – she was interested to see where it would lead. She had never met a man like him – his looks and charm, and the way he looked at her with those piercing blue eyes made her knees go weak. Then there was his accent – English she thought but with a hint of something else she couldn’t quite put a finger on. He definitely didn’t sound South African though which she found interesting, although perhaps he’d been raised in England or studied there, she explained it to herself.

Stop it Laura – you’re acting like a smitten schoolgirl! she mentally admonished herself then forced herself to focus on what she had to, getting the job done, rather than getting distracted by smooth talking men, no matter how good they might be at it or how attractive they were. Though part of her was still reluctant to leave, she knew she had to meet Murphy to set up part of the elaborate ruse that ‘Mr Steele’ was staying in the hotel’s penthouse suite.

“Excuse me,” she then said as she stood. Ever the gentleman, he rose as well, buttoning his jacket up to hide his body’s reaction to their flirting. “Thanks for the champagne – and the curiosity,” she remarked as she flashed him a dimpled smile, her brown eyes lit with a mischievous gleam, then walked out of the bar.

He watched her leave, a lopsided grin crossing his face as he thought about his next move in this delightful game they were playing…


	3. Chapter 3

After being approached by Kessler and Neef, Harry had to think quick on his feet. He was damned if he was going to let them get the better of him, or ruin his plans for a night with the delectable Miss Holt. So he quickly came up with a plan to kill two birds with one stone as it were. After giving the two thugs the keys to his rented Mercedes and telling them to follow the black limo parked outside the hotel with the number plate ’RSteele’, he quickly walked up to said limo.

“Miss Holt!” he called out as she was climbing into the car. “I wonder if I might impose on you for a lift Miss Holt.”

“Certainly,” Laura replied, both a little surprised but excited to see him again. After closing the door behind her in a gentlemanly fashion he went round to the other side and hopped in next to her.

“Plush,” he commented as they sat close together in the back of the limo.

“Mr Steele graciously allows me to use it whenever he’s away,” Laura replied, keeping up the charade.

“Mr Steele sounds too good to be true,” he commented as he turned around to look out the rear window to check if Kessler and Neef were following.

“Where can I drop you?” Laura asked.

“Wherever there’s an abundance of police cars,” he replied drolly.

“Are you in some kind of trouble?” Laura asked with a modicum of alarm.

“Depends how quickly we can locate one,” he replied seriously.

“Cut across to Sunset”, she instructed Fred who nodded in reply.

“Do you pack a rod Miss Holt?” *Ben* then asked.

“You’ve seen too many movies Mr Pearson.” she laughed. “No I don’t pack a rod. I’ve never found the need for one.”

“Pity,” he stated.

“Why?”

“The courier that smuggled those gems out of South Africa..”

“What about him?” Laura asked, a little worried what his answer would be.

“He was brutally murdered by the two gentlemen behind us in the blue Mercedes,” he informed her as he gestured with his index finger.

She immediately whirled around in shock to sneak a peek out the window then slumped down in her seat as he asked to use the car phone and rang the police, reporting the Mercedes following them as stolen, and making up a story about his grandmother needing medicine that was in the car.

“Bless you,” he said to the police dispatch officer as a dazzling smile crossed his face then he hung up the phone, leaving Laura quite impressed by his quick thinking.

In response to her look he quipped with a raise of his eyebrows, “Everyone needs a little added incentive now and then”, then added seriously, “In light of this disturbing development I suggest we change strategy.”

“In what way?” Laura asked.

“Use a decoy. Then slip the gems in when no one’s looking,” he replied, hoping for confirmation that that was what they were planning.

“You’re very good at this sort of thing Mr Pearson,” Laura stated with a degree of admiration.

“Have I read your mind Miss Holt?” he asked, hoping he was on the mark.

“Let’s just say it’s been considered,” she answered carefully, not giving too much away which he noted with interest. She was definitely good at what she did and the confidence she exuded just added to her allure.

“So are you,” he replied as he looked at her intently and she wondered what he was referring to.

“What?” she asked, trying to keep her voice and expression neutral so as not to give too much of what she was feeling away.

“Very good at this sort of thing,” he answered as he thought to himself and you are being considered Miss Holt, very much so.

“Rather reaffirms one’s faith in the local constabulary,” he added with a lopsided grin and a chuckle as they then heard sirens and looked behind them to see a police car converging on the blue Mercedes.

Laura folded her arms across her chest, breathing a sigh of relief, but she was a little unnerved by their close call with a pair of murderers. “Are you alright Miss Holt? You look a little pale,” he commented with some concern. “Yes, yes I’m fine,” she replied a little hurriedly, trying to reassure him as well as herself.

“So..you didn’t actually tell me where I can drop you,” she added, trying to keep her voice calm. There was a rush of adrenaline running through her veins and the close proximity of Ben to her certainly wasn’t helping matters.

At that a boyish grin crossed his face as he put a finger to his lips. “Actually I have a confession to make – I didn’t really need a lift anywhere. I only said that well for two reasons actually.. the first was so I could set a trap for those two murderers as I knew they would follow me.”

“And the second?” Laura asked, trying to hide the hopeful note in her voice. At that he moved closer to her, his eyes holding hers intently. “The second, and more important reason, was so I could spend more time with you Miss Holt.. or can I call you Laura?”

Laura nodded, momentarily speechless then managed to find her voice. “Laura’s just fine,” she managed to get out as she tried to tear her eyes away from his full lips that were now just inches from her own.  As if reading her mind he brought his lips to hers and kissed her ever so softly. “I hope I’m not being too presumptuous Laura, but could I interest you in a night cap?” he murmured, and from the look in his eyes and the roguish lift of one of his eyebrows, Laura knew what he was referring to and realised he was just being polite in front of Fred her chauffeur. Fred as usual, kept his eyes on the road and made out as if he couldn’t hear them.

“Yes.. yes I think you could,” she replied, her voice barely a whisper as his grin got a little wider and she couldn’t help smiling herself. Logical, rational Laura was telling her this was crazy – she hardly knew the man, in fact if she were to believe Murphy he could very well be an international jewel thief. But then that part of her that she had kept hidden for so long, ‘Wild Laura’ as she called that part of herself, won out – after all, what did she have to lose? He was an attractive , charming man who was obviously interested in her. And I’ll probably never see him again after this case is over she reasoned to herself. And once he had kissed her, she knew there was no turning back…

“Fred.. could you head back to the hotel please?’ she asked as he nodded, “Of course Miss Holt.” Laura then turned back to the man next to her, who had slipped his arm across the seat behind her. “I don’t suppose there’s a privacy screen in this vehicle is there?” he asked with a mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes. “Unfortunately not,” she replied with a rueful grin. “Hmm pity,” he stated with a wry grin of his own, as they both hoped there wouldn’t be too many red lights on the way back to the hotel..


	4. Chapter 4

Once the limo got back to the hotel, he hopped out and opened Laura’s door for her, offering her his hand which she gratefully took as she stepped out of the car. When she was safely on the kerb, he leant down to the driver and with a wink said, “Thankyou my good man.” Fred nodded with a smile as the other man tapped the limo roof twice, then buttoning his jacket stepped over to Laura. “Shall we?” he asked with a smile as he placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her towards the hotel entrance. “Yes we shall,” she replied with a matching smile, the feel of his hand on her, even through her clothes, sending a shiver up her spine.

They rode the elevator up to his room in silence, both of them momentarily lost in their own thoughts. Too late to back out now Holt, Laura thought to herself as she stole a sideways glance at him, realizing she didn’t want to anyway. The champagne she’d had earlier had left her with a warm buzz, not to mention their sensually charged conversation in the bar. And then the kiss they’d shared in the back of the limo had left her longing for more – the ride back to the hotel had felt like it had taken forever. She had been acutely aware of his thigh pressed against hers, his arm draped casually across her shoulders and the appealing, musky scent of his cologne. His thoughts were running along a similar vein – he’d had a hard time controlling himself in the back of the limo but he was determined to take things slow and enjoy every moment of this night.

He held the elevator door open for her as she thanked him with a smile then taking her hand in his in a gesture that both surprised her and calmed her a bit, he led her down the corridor to his room.  He fished out his key and opened the door. “Ladies first,” he said with that lopsided grin that did something to Laura that she couldn’t quite explain. “Thank you Mr..,” she went to reply but then stopped herself when she realised, given the situation, how ridiculously formal that sounded. “Sorry..Ben,” she laughed as he chuckled as well. He had been called so many names by various women over the years – he didn’t really care what she called him, but he had to agree that he would prefer her not to call him ‘Mr Something or other” while they were ‘tripping the light fantastic’.

He switched on the light as they stepped inside and hoping she hadn’t noticed, he quickly pushed the hotel floor plans he had been studying earlier which had fallen onto the floor, under the bed with his foot. He took off his jacket and carefully placed it on the back of a chair then turning to Laura asked, “Ah.. would you like a drink? I’ve got wine, spirits..” as he opened the minibar fridge. “Wine would be lovely thanks,” she replied with a smile as he pulled out a bottle of red and filled two glasses.

“So..,” he began with a grin as he handed her a glass and they both took a sip.

“So..” Laura echoed as she looked at him through her lashes and he swallowed hard. Oh you’re in for some night sport, he thought to himself as his grin got a bit wider, suspecting that underneath that cool, business like demeanour of hers lay something of a wild child. Eager to find out, he put his glass down then took hers and put it down as well then stepped closer to her and brushed her lips with his, softly at first then as she responded to him he deepened the kiss, taking his time as his hands went to her waist and her hands linked behind his neck.

They kissed leisurely at first, his hands slowly pushing her jacket off. It fell to the floor but neither noticed, their attention solely focused on each other. As he ran one hand through her hair the other went to his tie and he tugged it and the tie pin off a little impatiently and undid the top button of his shirt. Keen to see more of what lay under that shirt, Laura began undoing the rest of his buttons, a mischievous smile crossing her face as a delighted one crossed his in return. As she revealed his chest and stomach she couldn’t help but run her fingers through the dark hair she found there and as her hand trailed down to his belt buckle he couldn’t help the groan that involuntarily escaped his lips.

“You seem to have the upper hand clothing wise Laura,” he breathed as he shrugged his shirt off, his lips curving into a grin against her ear, then he raised an expectant eyebrow at her. “Can you give me a hand?” she asked with a smouldering look in her brown eyes that had the intended effect as his lopsided grin got even wider. “Oh I think I can do that,” he replied as he tugged her pullover over her head and then as she had done to him, he began slowly unbuttoning her blouse, his eyes never leaving hers as he brushed his fingers gently over each new bit of her flesh that he revealed.

Laura could feel her insides turn to jelly as he began pushing her blouse off her shoulders with maddening slowness. He wanted to take it slow and enjoy each new part of her that he revealed but Laura had other ideas – she wanted him, and she wanted him now. She hadn’t realised just how ‘itchy’ she was. She knew it had been a while since she’d slept with someone, but this gorgeous man who certainly knew what he was doing, had ignited a flame within her that was dangerously close to combusting.

With that thought in mind she pushed him back onto the bed, taking him by surprise as he cocked an eyebrow at her, and a look like a little boy who’d just opened a jar full of candy crossed his face. In response to his expectant look she stood at the end of the bed, cradled between his legs, as she pulled her blouse off and threw at him with a husky laugh. If he had been surprised before, he was even more so now, but also excited by her action. As he caught her blouse she couldn’t help but laugh at the almost comical expression on his face. She was suddenly seeing another side to him, a boyish, fun loving side - so different to the sophisticated, debonair gentleman she had first encountered, but just as attractive.  

But ‘wild Laura’ had come out to play and she wanted to see if her suspicion was right – that under the expensive suits and the boyish charm, beat the heart of a wild man who was more than a match for her. Wilson had been intimidated by her passionate, impulsive side so she had toned that down with the men she had been with since, but something told her that this man was different. And that scared her as much as it excited her.

As if reading her mind, he grabbed her and pulled her closer to him, his voice low and sexy as he murmured, “Come here,” thinking to himself, “Oh my, you’ve got a live one here mate.”. One of his hands skimmed her hip then unzipped her skirt, a roguish smile crossing his face as it pooled at her feet. His hands then travelled upwards, a moan involuntarily escaping her lips at the feel of his hands on her. And when he replaced his hands with his lips she knew she couldn’t wait anymore.

Her hands went to his belt buckle, urgently undoing it and running a cheeky hand over his very obvious arousal. “I see I’ve aroused your..curiosity,” she commented with a mischievous dimpled grin as a throaty chuckle escaped his lips, “Very much so.”

“So Miss Licensed Private Investigator – can I expect a thorough..investigation?” he then quipped as he wiggled his eyebrows devilishly at her. “Oh very thorough,” Laura breathed and then added with a wicked grin, “But first I think a debriefing is in order Special Agent Pearson,” as she proceeded to pull his trousers down and then ‘debrief’ him as he shook his head with a grin of his own at her boldness.

She took a moment to take in the sight of his long, lean frame as her breath caught in her throat – he was by far the most perfect specimen of manhood she’d ever seen. Then further emboldened by the sight of that gorgeous body of his, she dropped to her knees in front of him. Before he could register what she was doing, her mouth was on him and all rational thought left his head. He fisted a hand in her hair as she continued her ministrations and he quickly found himself nearing the height of pleasure. But ever the gentleman, he wanted to share that ‘magic moment’ with her so summoning all his self control he urged her to stop. In reply to her questioning look, he looked at her intently, his eyes darkened with passion to a deep cobalt blue, then he stated with a grin, “Your turn.”

Laura felt herself quivering with anticipation as he quickly removed the rest of her clothing, his lips tracing a trail down her body before reaching his final destination. She sighed with pleasure as he expertly aroused her. He certainly knows what he’s doing, she thought to herself as she ran a hand through his thick dark hair, his mouth and hands working their magic on her. Knowing she wanted more though – she wanted him, all of him - she murmured huskily, “Ben…..”

Carried away as he was he momentarily forgot that was the name he was currently using until she repeated it a bit more urgently. Sensing what she wanted, what he wanted as well, he somewhat reluctantly pulled himself away from her just long enough to grab a little foil wrapper out of his wallet. Once he had sheathed himself Laura couldn’t control herself any more. She grabbed him and kissed him hard as they fell back on the bed together, her urgent actions mirrored by his. As they moved together as one, a lock of hair fell across his forehead and his eyes held hers intently. He grabbed her hands in his and their fingers entwined as they hit the peak together. At that moment as their eyes met, they both felt a connection that went much further than just the mere physical, that realization overwhelming them as much as the intensity of their lovemaking had done….


	5. Chapter 5

Once they’d come back down to earth,*Ben*rolled over, gently pulling Laura onto his chest , the two of them trying to catch their breath as they basked in the afterglow. He couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as he ran a hand leisurely up and down her back. He’d imagined, given the incredible chemistry they’d had just having a conversation, albeit a rather flirtatious one, that making love to her would be amazing but he wasn’t quite prepared for how truly incredible it had been. It was like they were made for each other – she had instinctively known just what to do to turn him on and the enthusiasm with which she had reacted to his touch made him fairly certain she felt the same.  One thing was for sure – he’d never met a woman quite like her.

Laura was indeed also feeling the same. She knew it had been a while since she’d been with a man, but she couldn’t remember ever feeling so satisfied and so ..desired. He had known just what to do and he hadn’t been turned off or intimidated by the strength of her passion – quite the opposite in fact- he had openly embraced it and stirred it even further. A satisfied smile crossed her face as she couldn’t help running her fingers through the hair on his chest.

“Wow – that was…,” he started to say but he struggled to find the right words to describe it. “I know..” Laura agreed as the two of them laughed a little. They lay together quietly for a minute or two both of them wondering, what now? And even though at that moment Laura didn’t want it to, her head started to overrule her heart. Okay Laura you’ve had your fun, now you need to go home and get some sleep and start acting like a responsible adult – after all, you’ve got a long day tomorrow, she tried to tell herself, although she was very tempted to stay right where she was, wrapped in his arms.

With a somewhat reluctant sigh she disentangled herself from his arms and sat up. “Well this has been lovely but I guess I should be going,” she said as she ran a hand through her hair and smiled at him. “You don’t need to rush off,” he replied, his voice soft, as he gently lifted her chin with a finger and looked into her eyes. “Stay..please,” he murmured, the look on his face making him look so much like a vulnerable little boy that Laura knew she couldn’t refuse him.

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded – after all, it wouldn’t hurt to stay for a while now would it? she thought to herself. She was rewarded with a dazzling smile as she lay back down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “So how did you get into your line of work Ben? I imagine it must be exciting,” Laura asked as a rueful grin crossed his face. “Oh it has it’s moments,” he quipped, thinking of his real ‘profession’. “How did I get into my line of work eh?” he repeated her question, trying to think fast on his feet. “Well..ah..what can I say? I guess I had a flair for it,” he stated with a grin. “How long have you been involved with law enforcement?” Laura continued as he chuckled a little at the irony of that question. “Oh as long as I can remember,” he replied with a cheeky twinkle in his eyes, thinking to himself that was technically true, just not in the way she was thinking.

Keen to distract her from asking anymore questions he really didn’t have answers for though, he started trailing his fingers along one of her arms which had the desired effect as she temporarily forgot her next question. “And what made you decide to enter your line of work, besides the excitement?” he turned the tables on her, raising a devillish eyebrow at her as he said the last word. Laura sighed then stated a little ruefully, “I wanted to prove everyone wrong who said I couldn’t do it – all those people who told me it was no job for a woman.” He nodded in response – he could easily see that about her. That determined look he’d seen in her eye earlier that evening was there again now and it only added another attractive facet to her he thought.

As she said that she also realised how incredibly tired she was and she knew it wasn’t just from the ‘physical activity’ they’d just engaged in. She’d practically been working around the clock to keep up the charade of her fictional boss and it was becoming quite exhausting. And as she lay there in his arms, she realised how surprisingly comfortable and relaxed she felt. Maybe I’ll just close my eyes for a few moments, she thought drowsily as she rested her head on Ben’s shoulder and nestled into him, a delighted smile crossing his face as she did so. She was fast asleep in a matter of minutes. He watched her for a while, admiring her delicate features, totally relaxed as she slept. “Sweet dreams Laura,” he whispered softly as he brushed her forehead with a kiss and pulled the covers over her, then settling down next to her, turned off the light…


	6. Chapter 6

Laura woke the next morning and for a moment wondered where she was – she certainly wasn’t at home in her own bed, she knew that much. And then she remembered the night before as she couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face, and whose bed she was in. But where was he? she wondered as his side of the bed was empty. She had a hazy recollection of half waking up during the night to find herself wrapped in his strong arms, her head nestled on his chest. Though it was dark, there had been a sliver of moonlight that had shone through a gap in the curtains and illuminated his handsome features – the long lashes on his closed eyes and that adorable lock of hair falling across his forehead, and the hint of a smile on his face which made her wonder what he was dreaming about - she’d hoped it was her. She knew she probably should have left at that point but she didn’t want to wake him, and if she was being honest she was far too comfortable in his arms to want to leave. She’d eventually fallen back into a deep, contented sleep until waking again several hours later.

When she saw he wasn’t in the bed next to her an irrational fear knotted her stomach for a moment or two that he had packed up his stuff and left her – just like Wilson had. Just as she was admonishing herself for letting her fears get the better of her (after all she was hardly in a relationship with Ben – she’d only met him less than 24 hours ago she rationalised), she heard whistling coming from the bathroom and involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief.

She then checked her watch and immediately went into panic mode, realizing she’d overslept and that she still had to go home and change – she couldn’t turn up to the office in the same clothes she was wearing the day before, or else Bernice and Murphy would know she hadn’t spent the night at home. “Shi..” she went to mutter an expletive, just as the bathroom door opened and she was greeted by the sight of Ben clad only in a towel, some shaving cream still on his face, his wet hair slicked back and a lopsided grin on his face. ‘Wow!’ Laura couldn’t help but think as she admired his half naked, lean body, wondering if he always looked that good in the morning, as her heart skipped a beat.

“Morning, morning, morning,” he greeted her cheerfully, his grin getting a bit wider as he cast an appreciative glance over her. He’d found her attractive even when she was fully dressed in business attire, but the sight of her lying in his bed with her hair tousled from sleep and the sheet barely covering her, took his breath away. He found his voice then quipped cheekily, “I thought I heard that lovely lilting voice of yours,” as he wiped off the last of his shaving cream with a face cloth then walked out of the bathroom, carrying a bathrobe for her.

“I took the liberty of ordering us some breakfast,” he informed her as he handed her the robe which she gratefully accepted. “Thankyou Ben but I’ve really got to get going – I’m going to be late for work,” Laura replied as she quickly pulled the robe on then hopping out of the bed started frantically looking for her clothes, all the while trying to tear her eyes off him. Trying to suppress a grin at her panic, he sat down at the table and uncovering the room service tray began tucking into the food. “You’ve got to eat Laura,” he pointed out. “I don’t know about you but I’m famished after our shall we say ‘physical activity’ last night,” he added with a devillish wiggle of his eyebrows.

She couldn’t help but laugh at that, his witty charm getting to her and she had to admit the delicious aroma of the food was making her stomach grumble. “Well maybe just a quick coffee and some toast,” she relented, then added, “But first I have to find the rest of my clothes.” An amused grin crossed his face as he watched her looking everywhere for a particular item of clothing that he had spied lying on the floor not far from the chair he was sitting on where he’d tossed it the night before, as she muttered  to herself in frustration, ”Where is it?”

“Looking for this?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her and grinning mischievously as he dangled her bra from one of his fingers. “Stop grinning!” she retorted, trying to sound annoyed as she grabbed it off him but despite herself, a grin spread across her face as well.

She put it with the rest of her clothes as he poured some coffee for her and tea for himself, then she sat down opposite him. “Sure I can’t tempt you with a croissant or some eggs Benedict?” he asked her as she spread some butter on her toast. “They’re really very good,” he added as he took another mouthful. “I’m sure they are but I really do have to get going,” Laura politely declined but he wasn’t ready to give up just yet in his quest to spend more time with her. In the lovely cocoon of his hotel room it seemed like it was just the two of them and the world outside didn’t exist. And he knew once they left, they’d be at cross purposes again, not that she knew that, and after the night they had just spent together, that didn’t sit well with him. Focus on the job Harry, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Daniel’s popped into his head but he chose to ignore it, for the moment anyway.

“You’re sure I can’t tempt you to stay? Just a little while longer?” he asked, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief as he looked at her intently. “I’m sure Mr Steele won’t mind if you’re a few minutes late eh?”

Laura couldn’t help but smile at that as she thought to herself, well seeing as I am ‘Mr Steele’ for all intents and purposes, I guess *he* wouldn’t mind at all. And given the way Ben was looking at her and how good he was looking in that towel, she knew he could very well tempt her to stay for a bit longer. “Well I guess he wouldn’t mind too much,” she agreed and the sultry look she gave him had the intended effect as he adjusted the towel a bit and cleared his throat. “I must give him my thanks,” he quipped as he got up from the table and pulled her into his arms, undoing the belt of her robe as he did so. “Well I’ll be sure to pass on your gratitude,” Laura replied with a laugh as he led her back to the bed and lay her down on it. “Good – because I’m very, very grateful,” he stated, his voice husky as he lost the towel and covered her body with his own…

Sometime later Laura somehow managed to tear herself away from him, and quickly showered and dressed. Then she bade him farewell with a searing, passionate kiss that left them both breathless and wondering how they were ever going to act normally around each other for the next couple of days while the Royal Lavulite was still in Los Angeles.

                                ***********************************************

She quickly got a cab home so she could get changed then pushed the Rabbit to the limit to get to the office on time. Try as she might she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she came through the agency’s doors.

 “Cutting it a little close aren’t you?’ Bernice greeted her.

“I had the most incredible evening,” Laura replied as she sailed past Bernice.

“Yeah? With who?” Bernice asked, her curiosity immediately piqued.

Laura looked over her shoulder at her and flashed her a grin, “Him.”

“I want to hear all the gory details,” Bernice insisted excitedly as she followed Laura into her office.

“Well first he brought me a bottle of champagne,” Laura started, wondering how much she should tell her. Although she was tempted to tell her everything that had happened, another part of her just wanted to keep it to herself – a treasured memory that she could hold onto once he’d left in a couple of days’ time.

“Who bought you champagne?” Murphy asked, sticking his head out of his adjoining office, upon hearing their conversation, his jealous streak coming to the fore, although he had a sneaking suspicion who they were talking about and he didn’t like it one bit. There was something about that Ben Pearson guy he didn’t trust, plus he’d seen the way Laura had looked at him when he came into the office the day before – the way he wished she’d look at him.

“Actually it was a magnum,” Laura clarified as Bernice looked impressed.

“I thought you didn’t like champagne,” Murphy groused.

“What happened after the champagne?” Bernice pressed her, trying to shut Murphy up so Laura could continue.

“We went for a drive – and that’s when things really got hairy,” Laura continued with a grin as she went and grabbed a footstool.

“Who went for a drive?” Murphy demanded as Laura put the footstool down and standing on top of it, started looking in one of the office cupboards.

“Laura and Special Agent Ben Pearson,” Bernice stated with a hint of exasperation, eager to hear more of what had happened between them.

“You went joy riding with a guy who could be an international jewel thief or for all we know, a mass murderer? That’s not Like you Laura,” Murphy stated worriedly.

“Didn’t he check out?” Laura retorted, hoping he had.

“Yeah he checked out,“ Murphy confirmed rather disappointedly. As well as not trusting him, he didn’t like the guy either – too slick for his liking, and from what Laura was telling them, he didn’t like him even more now. ”I talked to his supervisor this morning. The only bump is, Pearson wasn’t supposed to arrive till today. So just to be sure I requested a wire photo.”

“Where are the bullets?” Laura then asked as she took out the agency gun.

“What are you doing?” Murphy asked with concern. They hardly ever had cause to take the gun with them while working a case, let alone use it.

“This isn’t going to be the piece of cake we thought it would be. The men who originally stole those gems are brutal murderers. They followed us last night – even though Ben took care of them brilliantly,” she informed them, and then thought mischievously to herself, he took care of me brilliantly too.

“Ben?” Murphy repeated, thinking to himself angrily, ‘what they’re on a first name basis now?’.

“I’d feel better if you packed a rod”, Laura then said, handing the gun to Murphy.

“A rod?” he asked, perplexed. Since when did she call a gun ’a rod’? he wondered.

“Page Remington Steele in exactly twenty seven minutes just to keep his prescence alive. I’ll tell Hunter that Mr Steele already left for the airport”, Laura then instructed Bernice as she walked back out of the office to head back to the hotel, trying to keep her mind on the job, although part of her couldn’t wait to see Ben again.

“Good luck, Bernice called to her.

“Sounds like he got a lot for his lousy bottle of champagne!” Murphy yelled after her, his jealousy getting the better of him.

“It was a magnum,”Bernice informed him, a dreamy look on her face, thinking to herself what a lucky woman Laura was.

_**************************************_


	7. Chapter 7

He hadn’t really intended to adopt Remington Steele’s identity – it happened by accident really. As Harry made his way through the hotel later that morning his thoughts kept going back to the wonderful night (and morning) he had spent with the gorgeous Laura Holt and he was very much looking forward to seeing her again. Although he knew he would have to play his cards even more carefully now.

He knew he’d originally come to Los Angeles in pursuit of the gems but he couldn’t help thinking perhaps he had found something far more precious. This very much surprised him, as although he had enjoyed the company of many women over the years, he had very rarely allowed himself to have any real feelings for them. It was easier that way – no commitments, no ties – especially when he may need to cut and run at short notice, given his choice of profession. But Laura had managed to get under his skin after just one night together.

Somewhat distracted as he was, he failed to notice Messrs Kessler and Neef until they cornered him again. Frantically trying to think of a way to escape their clutches, he noticed a young female hotel clerk paging Remington Steele for a phone call. An idea popped into his head as she walked past him. “Miss?” he caught her attention as Kessler and Neef glared at him, wondering what he was up to now.  “Mr Steele?” she asked him. “You found me,” he stated in an effort to get away from the two thugs, as he flashed her a smile and she beckoned for him to follow her to a courtesy phone. He gladly followed her but unfortunately Kessler and Neef followed him as well as he picked up the phone and said, “Steele here.”

 “Who? Where?” he heard Miss Wolf’s (or whatever her name was) confused voice on the other end. “Can’t talk now, Miss..Wolf?” he replied hurriedly as the two thugs closed in on him.  “Fox!” Bernice stated impatiently. “I knew it was some sort of primitive creature. Sorry, but I’ve literally got to run,” he quipped as he quickly hung up and went to run off. Kessler and Neef were just going to grab him again when Gordon Hunter appeared, accompanied by two security guards. He came up and greeted him as Mr Steele after observing him answering the call.

 Harry breathed a sigh of relief as Hunter provided him with the perfect escape route from these two thorns in his side, although he did think it strange that Hunter thought he was Remington Steele – hadn’t he actually met him he wondered? He momentarily worried how he was going to explain himself when the real ‘Mr Steele’ turned up but deciding he’d worry about that when and if it happened, he went along with the charade and turned around to Hunter and greeted him with a smile.

Hunter shook his hand, saying “I certainly feel safer with you here.” Harry couldn’t help grinning cheekily at Kessler and Neef as he replied, “My sentiments precisely,” Kessler slamming his hat down on a counter in frustration at him escaping their clutches yet again. Hunter then beckoned him to follow him to the Security Office, informing him there was someone there he wanted him to meet.

As they walked to the office Hunter commented, “You know, I thought you’d be older.”

“Oh I can age on demand,” he quipped, thinking to himself how much being adaptable and being able to slip into whatever character the situation required, was an asset in his profession. Although he had to admit this was definitely a new one for him – pretending to be a private detective. He had to smile at the irony of it – he’d spent the best part of his life on the wrong side of the law and here he was in the matter of a couple of days masquerading first as a Special Agent and now a detective.

But just when he thought things couldn’t get any more bizarre, the person Hunter wanted him to meet turned out to be the real Special Agent Ben Pearson, who had just arrived from South Africa in order to protect the gems. Harry swallowed a little nervously but forced a smile onto his face as he followed Hunter into the room where the real Ben Pearson stood waiting. Hunter introduced him to Pearson as Remington Steele and then Pearson went on to inform them that someone had been impersonating him. “Cheeky blighter,” Harry stated, trying not to grin at the irony of his statement as he forced a concerned look onto his face instead, then appearing nonchalant but feeling somewhat apprehensive, he asked Pearson if he had a description of his impostor. “My build, general colouring..” Pearson replied as Harry/’Mr Steele’ nodded and pretended to be deep in thought. “Could be anyone – including me,” he chuckled, neither Pearson or Hunter realizing the truth.

When Pearson asked him how he could be of service to him he saw the perfect opportunity to get rid of Messrs Kessler and Neef by asking him to detain them which Pearson assured him he’d get done. Hunter, eager to get going, then wrapped up the conversation as they followed him out of the room.

Hunter spied Laura Holt waiting in the lobby and headed towards her. “I just spoke with Mr Steele,” she informed him. “So did I,” Hunter replied. “He’s already left for the..,” she went to continue but then realised what he had said as he added. “He’s just arrived.”

“Mr Steele just arrived?” she asked, perplexed.

“Yes. There he is with Special Agent Ben Pearson” Hunter replied as he nodded in the direction of the two dark haired men who had just stepped out of the security office. Laura recognized *Ben* of course but she had no idea who the man next to him was. Was this guy trying to impersonate Remington Steele? she thought angrily to herself. And if so, why? The only thing she knew for sure was that she had to get to the bottom of it before her concoction of her fictional boss was exposed.

Meanwhile Harry froze as he spied Laura. Although part of him was glad to see her, another part of him was suddenly very worried how she would react when she realised Hunter had mistaken him for her boss and he had gone along with it. Meanwhile Pearson looked at ‘Mr Steele’ asking, “Something wrong old chap?” as he didn’t look too good. “Ah..stomach’s just a bit queasy,” he replied hurriedly, which was an understatement – he felt like he was going to throw up, when he saw Laura’s eyes narrowing as she looked at him and Pearson. 

“Wouldn’t doubt it. I’d be a little gaseous myself protecting over two million in rare gems. But not to worry. Just remember, I’ll be watching you every step of the way,” Pearson reassured him with a smile then he took his leave as Harry forced a smile onto his face in reply, thinking to himself ‘Great – another unforeseen complication I have to worry about.’

But for the moment he was more worried about how Laura was going to react to him impersonating Remington Steele and that surprised him quite a bit. He had known her for barely 24 hours and yet her opinion of him mattered to him for some reason he couldn’t quite fathom. They had shared a magical night (and part of the morning) together of course. but she wouldn’t be the first woman he’d lied to, but he’d never been this bothered about it before.

Laura watched as the man she thought was the imposter left, leaving who she thought was Ben standing there. She and Hunter walked up to him, and she couldn’t help admiring him in the fawn suit he was now wearing. They momentarily shared a look that spoke volumes, given the incredible time they had had together the night before. But both forced neutral expressions onto their faces, knowing they had to keep it business like around Hunter.

“You have less than 20 minutes to get to the airport,” Hunter then reminded them both, wondering why they were still standing there looking at each other.

“Yes. Shall we?” Laura asked *Ben*, slipping back into professional mode.

“Oh, why not?” he replied, thinking in for a penny, in for a pound _._  
  
As Hunter led the way, Laura and *Ben*slowly followed him then Laura stopped him. Uh oh, here it comes, he thought worriedly, desperately trying to think of an explanation.

She rested a hand on his chest and told him, her voice low, _“_ That man that was with you – he isn’t Remington Steele.”

“He isnt?” Harry asked with fake surprise, thanking his lucky stars that she hadn’t realised that he was in fact impersonating Remington Steele.

“He’s an impostor,” she informed him.

“He is?” he replied, continuing the charade.

“But don’t say anything,” Laura pleaded with him.

“Oh you can count on me,” he assured her, thinking that he certainly wasn’t going to say anything if it meant she didn’t find out that he was actually the imposter.

They then headed outside to where Hunter was waiting for them. As they walked out together he found himself wondering why Laura didn’t want him to say anything – surely she wanted to tell Hunter that someone was impersonating her boss? After all what would happen when the man himself actually did turn up? It certainly got him thinking. But then he reminded himself he needed to focus on the job he was there to do – he still needed to scope out the hotel layout properly to plan the best way to get to the gems and then get them out. He’d originally planned to do that this morning but the beautiful brunette at his side had distracted him from doing so.  
  
He then turned to her and said with a smile, “Why don’t you pop on ahead, Miss Holt? And I’ll stay behind to reconnoiter the area in the case there are any problems,” but Hunter was having none of it, insisting they both go to the airport.

Not really being able to refuse, the man who found himself pretending to be Mr Steele followed Miss Holt into the waiting limo.

“What did he say?” Laura asked as she turned to him once they were on their way.

“He wants us both at the airport,” he replied, wondering why she was asking that.

“No, I mean that phony Steele,” she clarified as a frown crossed her face at the thought of someone jeopardizing all the effort she had gone to in order to create and maintain the charade of her fictitious superior.

“Oh not much actually. We were merely introduced,” he replied quickly, not wanting to go into the details and potentially trip himself up.

“He’s obviously after those gems, ”Laura stated as he thought to himself, you don’t know how right you are Miss Holt – well almost right. Right motive in any case, just the wrong man. Needing to satisfy his curiosity he then asked, “Why didn’t Gordon Hunter blow the whistle on him?”

Laura immediately looked uncomfortable he noted with interest. “Well, he’s never actually met Mr. Steele. You see, Mr. Steele was out of town when we accepted this assignment,” she answered hurriedly.

“But surely our charlatan realizes he’ll be exposed once the real Steele comes upon the scene. When do you expect him?” he pressed her further, a suspicion forming in his mind.

“That’s difficult to pinpoint,” Laura stated as she tried her best not to nervously wring her hands together as he thought, again that evasiveness about Mr Steele.

“But you did say he’d be involved in this undertaking?” he countered.

“Yes, yes. Extremely involved,” she confirmed, a little too enthusiastically, he thought. What is she hiding? he wondered. He’d been in the game long enough to recognize a con when he saw one, and this just added another intriguing facet to her. Depending if his hunch was right of course, but he had a fairly strong feeling it was.

“But unseen?” he continued his questioning which left her practically squirming. This is turning into a nightmare she thought to herself, worrying not only that her deception was going to be found out but also what Ben would think of her if he found out she’d invented her boss and had effectively lied to Gordon Hunter and all her other clients. That thought surprised her – after all she’d only met Ben the day before, but crazy as it seemed she had felt like that had had a connection that went beyond the mere physical -although that had been pretty amazing as well.  Suddenly everything – her life, her work,  not to mention this case, had got a whole more complicated. It had been working like a charm until that damn imposter had turned up, she thought ruefully.

“This is awfully tricky, Mr. Pearson,” she confessed, calling Ben by his full name in front of Fred so he wouldn’t know they were now on a first name basis. Although, after dropping them back at the hotel the night before he probably suspected that was the case anyway she realized.

“So it appears. No pun intended,” *Ben* couldn’t help but quip, wondering just how she had managed to set up this ruse. However she had done it or for whatever reason, it was bloody brilliant he thought with admiration, realizing he may just have found a kindred spirit.

“You mustn’t tell Hunter. It would only undermine his confidence in the entire operation,” Laura implored him.

“How long do you think we can keep this charade going?” he asked a very ironic question, referring to both Laura and himself, not that she knew that, he thought.

“Just until the gems are delivered safely,” Laura replied.

“And then you’ll nail this ersatz Remington Steele?” he asked a little worriedly, hoping that wouldn’t occur – well that she wouldn’t find out that Hunter actually thought he was Steele.

At that Laura’s eyes narrowed with both anger and determination as she seethed, “To the wall, Mr. Pearson. To the very wall.”

“Graphically put,” he replied with the hint of a grin as he couldn’t help thinking mischievously, ‘I wouldn’t mind getting nailed against a wall by you Laura’, but somehow he didn’t think that was quite what she had in mind for the man pretending to be Remington Steele.

“Can I count on your cooperation?” she then asked him, hoping he would agree to help her out.

“Oh believe me, mum’s the operative word here,” he reassured both Laura and himself.

“Thank you, thank you so much,” she replied gratefully, putting a hand on his arm. “You’re the only one I can turn to.”

“There, there Miss Holt,” he stated as he put a comforting arm around her ,“as long as you trust me, there’s nothing left to worry about,” as she found herself relaxing a little at the feel of his arm around her, just as she had done the night before. She had never felt that with a man before – how could his touch feel so exciting yet so comforting at the same time? she wondered to herself.

Part of him felt like a louse for lying to her but he justified it with the thought that he wasn’t the only one lying after all. And as it had always been with him – his actions spoke louder than his words. He found himself genuinely wanting to comfort her and that both surprised him as well as worried him a bit. He had made it a rule not to get distracted by emotional ties but he found himself struggling a bit to stick to that rule. Focus on the job sport, he told himself firmly but he couldn’t help his focus being diverted, temporarily anyway, to the fascinating woman sitting next to him.

 


	8. Chapter 8

The limo followed the armoured car and laundry van from the airport back to the hotel. Laura and *Ben* got out of the limo and watched the security guards taking a locked box out of the armored car in plain sight, while at the corner of the hotel,  Murphy disguised as a laundry worker, was taking a linen trolley out of the laundry van. Ben observed with great interest the subtle nods Murphy and Laura gave each other, which confirmed his suspicions that Murphy had actually transported the gems and the armoured car was just a decoy. Laura then went to head into the hotel. When he didn’t immediately follow and instead stood watching Murphy, she turned to him and said, “Mr Pearson?”

“Yes?” he replied, Laura’s voice interrupting his thoughts. He was both impressed the plan had worked and had also been trying to decide what would be the best way for him to ‘liberate’ the gems.  

“Of course”, he replied hurriedly, trying to hide his momentary distraction as he followed Laura into the hotel. Laura knocked on the security office’s door, while he stayed standing in the lobby. Laura signaled okay to him, unable to hide her smile at the success of her plan, as he waved back, thinking to himself, “Alright sport, time to figure out how you’re going to get your hands on those gems.”  
  
“Mr. Steele,” Hunter greeted him with a chuckle as he came up to him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Everything went without a hitch.”

“Yes cracking good job, wasn’t it?” he replied, realizing he meant it. Even if he hadn’t planned it himself, like Hunter thought.

“You know, Steele, I must admit. I was somewhat skeptical. Your Miss Holt certainly protects you,” Hunter continued as they made their way to the elevator.  
  
 “Well, that’s part of her function,” ‘Mr Steele’ informed him, keeping up the charade for Laura’s sake.

 “But this was bordering on the ridiculous. I mean, I couldn’t see you, talk to you, not even on the telephone. You were always unavailable or out of town. I was beginning to think you didn’t exist,” Hunter stated, which he found rather interesting.

As the two of them entered the elevator he suddenly realised that as Hunter thought he was Remington Steele, he obviously expected him to go to Steele’s room and he panicked a little as he tried to guess what floor that might be on. Hunter however saved him the trouble as he pressed the Penthouse button for him.

As they rode the elevator, Hunter asked curiously, “What is this fetish you have for secrecy?”

“Anonymity is an asset in my profession,” ‘Steele’ answered, thinking to himself wryly, how true that was.

“Yes, but I mean, no photographs, no interviews, never involving yourself directly in a case. It wasn’t only mine. I spoke with several people who’ve dealt with your agency, and it was the same story. Plenty of Miss Holt, none of you,” Hunter pointed out, confirming his suspicions even more.

“Well, now you have a great deal of me. Who knows? When this is over, you may rue the day you ever met me,” he stated trying not to smile at the irony of that statement, thinking ‘especially if all goes to plan and I take those gems off your hands.’

The elevator door then opened as he let Hunter lead the way. When they got to the Penthouse, thinking quickly on his feet, he made a show of feeling his pockets for his key. “Hmm. I seem to have left my key at the desk.”  
  
Hunter then turned to a passing room service maid and asked, “Would you let Mr. Steele into his room? He seems to have forgotten his keys.” The maid opened the door as Hunter said to him, “So, I’ll look for you tonight”.

“Tonight?”, ‘Mr Steele’ asked curiously, wondering what Hunter was referring to.

“Yes, for the formal unveiling of the Hunter Jetstar 6000. And, of course, the gems,’ Hunter replied with a laugh, wondering for a moment why Steele hadn’t realised what he was talking about it. But he was in such a good mood that he didn’t spend too much time worrying about it. “Of course. Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” ‘Steele’ replied with a smile, thinking that would provide him with the perfect opportunity to ‘acquire’ the gems.

After the maid let him into the room and he bade Hunter farewell, he went about inspecting ’Mr Steele’s’ suite. To his surprise, he found a wardrobe full of suits that looked like they had never been worn – not a speck of lint or dandruff on any of them, one laid out on the bed still had the sales tag on it. Then there was an empty briefcase, shirts still in their packaging, shoes with absolutely no scuff marks on them at all. Intrigued, he went into the bathroom to find a bottle of cologne that looked as it had never been used and the brush on the sink had not a single hair on it.

“Oh that’s good – that’s very good,” he stated with admiration as he realised the truth, his hunch confirmed, an impressed grin crossing his face. Remington Steele did not exist, Laura had invented him and by the looks of things, had gone to great lengths to keep the charade of her imaginary boss alive. Now it all made sense – why Hunter had never seen him and why Laura had been so cagey about her boss’s involvement in the case.

He also thought back to what she’d told him about never getting the credit her male counterparts had done at the detective agency she had originally worked at, and he suspected when she had struck out on her own the enterprising Miss Holt had invented a male superior in order to attract clients who may have been reticent to hire a female private detective. With a chuckle he realised that Laura may be a bigger con artist than even he was – and she was very good at it too.

So what to do with this new found piece of very interesting information? he wondered, knowing he had just obtained a very big Ace up his sleeve. Just how he was going to play it though he wasn’t exactly sure  yet.

He helped himself to some of ‘Mr Steele’s’ cologne, then he cocked a devillish eyebrow at his reflection in the mirror and stated, “Pleasure to meet you Mr Steele.”

                                                ****************************************

Laura was delighted when she received a call from Ben later that day, asking if he could escort her to the unveiling of Hunter’s creation that night. They arranged to meet in the hotel lobby as he knew if she came up to his room they were likely to miss the whole thing. A cheeky lopsided grin crossed his face as he thought to himself while he waited, “Well there’s always after the unveiling party”, temporarily forgetting that he had some gems to steal and he should be focusing on that.

Once he spied her entering the lobby, his grin got even wider – she looked simply exquisite. She had her hair up in a loose bun, diamond earrings adorning her ears and wearing a ravishing, strapless red gown. He loosened his bowtie a little as she was literally taking his breath away.

He wasn’t the only one feeling that way as Laura admired him in the black tux he was wearing. He looked like James Bond or some other dashing character from a movie - incredibly handsome and debonair. A dimpled smile lit up her face as she came up to him. “Mr Pearson,” she greeted him formally with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Miss Holt,” he returned the greeting with a twinkle in his blue eyes, as he offered her his arm and added as he cast an appreciative eye over her, “May I say you look absolutely stunning this evening.”

His compliment was rewarded with a dazzling smile from Laura as she replied with more than a hint of understatement, “Why thankyou - you scrub up okay yourself.”

He chuckled at that as they walked into the function room where the unveiling party was being held.

“Any sign of him?” Laura asked, in reference to the man who she thought was impersonating Remington Steele.

“No,” he replied, thinking it was quite odd that he hadn’t seen the real Ben Pearson at all since earlier that day. He would have thought he would be here already to keep an eye on the Royal Lavulite.

“Where do you suppose our impostor is?” Laura asked.

“I keep asking myself the same question,” he stated, hoping he hadn’t run afoul of Kessler and Neef.  
  
They took their seats as Hunter took to the stage and started addressing the gathered guests. “We’ve got an awful lot to accomplish this evening, not the least of which is the unveiling of the finest automobile ever engineered by man. But before we knock your socks off with the Hunter Jetstar 6000, I’d like to take a moment to thank the Remington Steele Detective Agency.”  
  
An extremely pleased look crossed Laura’s face as she mentally patted herself on the back for a job well done.  “Great endorsement,” she commented happily to *Ben* who nodded, trying his best not to look uncomfortable, as he was dreading what he suspected Hunter was going to do any minute now.  
  
“Transporting and protecting the most precious gems in the world requires brilliant planning, daring execution, and plain old street savvy. So, without further ado, let me introduce to you..,” Hunter continued, as he looked in their direction. “The person responsible for the safety of the Royal Lavulite..”

“Oh this is embarrassing, I wish he’d stop,” Laura stated as Hunter heaped praise on the Remington Steele agency and what an excellent job they’d done protecting the Royal Lavulite, but she was secretly enjoying it. *Ben*however was looking decidedly queasy next to her, knowing her bubble was going to be burst any second now and he was not looking forward to what her reaction might be.

“An absolutely astounding human being. Ladies and gentlemen…” Hunter went on.

Laura went to get up from her seat, ready to go on stage but to her surprise and puzzlement Ben murmured to her, ”Wait,” as she wondered why he had said that.

Her question was answered when Hunter then invited ‘Remington Steele’ up to the stage.

The man sitting next to her then turned to her, and with a pained expression said,” Years from now when you talk of this - and you will – be kind. _Deborah Kerr to John Kerr, Tea and Sympathy, MGM 1956,”_ as he rose from his seat and walked onto the stage.

Laura stared at him trying to comprehend what had just happened and then it dawned on her - he was the impostor, as well as a liar and a thief. Then her bewilderment turned to boiling rage as she watched him walk onto the stage, taking the credit she deserved.

But what really got to her, and hurt her she had to admit, was that he had lied to her. He wasn’t Ben Pearson at all and he certainly wasn’t Remington Steele – so who the hell was he? And what upset her the most was she had slept with the scoundrel, thinking they had had a connection, when obviously it had just had been part of his plan to get information out of her so he could get his hands on the gems, and get laid while he was at it. And if she was being honest, she was just as angry at herself, if not more so, for falling for it.

“Thankyou, thankyou, you’re most generous with your applause but It would be unworthy of Remington Steele if he didn’t single out his most able and most valued associate, truly the woman behind the man, Miss Laura Holt. Please Miss Holt stand up and take a well deserved bow,” he stated as he gestured towards her and led the applause, trying in some small way to soften the blow. Laura slowly got up from her seat as the guests applauded her, then sat back down, glaring at him as she did so.

“And now, you have far more interesting things to look at than me. So, please, Mr. Hunter, show us your creation,” he continued as he left the stage and made his way back to his seat, while Hunter unveiled his pride and joy, the Hunter Jetstar 6000 automobile.

 “You!” she threw at the impostor furiously as she hit him on the arm when he sat back down on the table. She really felt like slapping him across the face but she knew in a room full of people that would create too much of a scene, so she settled for the next best thing.

 “I didn’t know he was going to do that – my sincere apologies,” he replied in an effort to placate her, to no avail.

“What are you going to do when Mr Steele arrives?” she hissed at him, as she whacked him on the arm again for good measure.

“I’d like to meet the man whose shoes I’m attempting to fill - how am I doing so far?” he retorted as he tugged on his bowtie with that infuriating grin.

“Atrociusly! You’re not a thing like Mr Steele! He’s honest, dedicated..,”she spat at him as she started to get up but he pulled her back down, all the while smiling inanely for the cameras. “Better looking!”’ she snapped, although she knew that was a lie – she couldn’t even imagine anyone better looking than him. “Why you’re nothing but a treacherous liar, a cheap crook, a cut rate conman!” she continued furiously as she got up from the table.

As she went to storm off he followed her and grabbed her as she reached the dance floor, pulling her into his arms. “What are you doing? Let go of me! Whatever possessed you to think you could get away with this?!” she demanded angrily, breathing hard, and both of them had a flashback to the other night when she had also been breathing hard in his arms while his body pressed against hers, not unlike it was now, albeit with far less clothing on. The memory just fuelled Laura’s anger more though as she tried to pull away from him but he held tight.

“Impeccable man your Mr Steele. You know there’s not a piece of lint, a speck of dandruff, a hank of hair on any of his suits,” he stated under his breath as he gave her a knowing look.  She quickly masked the look of shock and fear that momentarily crossed her face as she realised he had found her out, but not before he noticed it.

“And he obviously wears a shirt once and then discards it since there’s no laundry marks to be found. The same with the shoes. The soles seem never to have touched the ground. Not one single, solitary scuff mark,” he continued.

“Well, he’s fastidious, almost to a fault,” Laura stated in an effort to keep up the charade.

“Bald too?” he threw at her.

“Of course not!” Laura snapped, getting angrier by the minute.

“Then he’s blessed. I’m forever plucking stray hairs from my comb and brush. Positively demoralizing, but an inescapable part of the human condition. Does this say anything to you Miss Holt?” he pressed her and when she didn’t reply he continued, “It does to me. It fairly shouts Remington Steele is an elaborate ruse – he does not exist. You invented him,” playing his Ace as she realised he had her, but she wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

“What are you going to do with this absurd supposition?” she demanded.

“Nothing. Believe me, Laura. I didn’t plan on assuming Remington Steele’s identity. I’m after something entirely different,” he stated honestly.

“The gems,” Laura stated with a knowing look. Oh he’d duped her and duped her good, she fumed to herself.

The impostor shook his head. “The courier—the one who was murdered? He was my younger brother. I’m here to see that Kessler and Neef pay for his death.,” he quickly made up a story, not able to bring himself to tell her the  truth.

“I don’t know whether to believe you or not,” she replied dubiously. Part of her wanted to believe him because to admit the truth would mean admitting the possibility that the other night had meant nothing to him. And as much as she now wanted to, she knew she couldn’t convince herself that it had meant nothing to her.

“That’s understandable. But the moment they’re apprehended, I shall be gone…and your secret shall leave with me,” he reassured her.  
  
Murphy and Bernice then walked into the function room, Murphy bristling as he spied Laura dancing with that lying conman jewel thief. He urgently signalled to her to get her attention.  
  
“Excuse me,” Laura said with a finality to her voice that the impostor realised would be best not to argue with, as she pulled herself out of his grip then walked over to Murphy and Bernice.  
  
“That guy’s a fake. I told you, Laura. I warned you about him", Murphy informed her emphatically.

“I know, I know!” she agreed with a frustrated sigh.

 “This is the special agent from South Africa", Murphy handed Laura the picture of the man she had originally mistaken for the impostor.  
  
“What do we know about the courier who was murdered?” she then asked Bernice, trying to hold onto a small sliver of hope that he was at least being honest about that.

“Let’s see. His name is Otto Dettmer. He was born in Johannesburg..” Bernice rattled off.

 “How old is he?” Laura interrupted.

“Ah, 63 or 64, I think.”  
  
Laura then angrily pointed at Remington Steele’s impostor. The man who up till about ten minutes ago she had thought was Ben Pearson.  
  
“Keep an eye on him,” she instructed Bernice then urged Murphy, ”Come on” as she patted his arm and quickly led him out of the function room, Murphy wondering where they were going. The man everyone else in the room thought was Remington Steele, who was now talking to a group of reporters, watched them go, thinking ruefully to himself, “The game’s up now mate.”

                                               

                                *************************************************


	9. Chapter 9

Laura led the way to *his* room, Murphy struggling a little to keep up with her determined stride. “Where are we going?’ he asked. “To search that lowlife impostor’s room,” she replied with a frown. “Wait.. how do you know where his room is?” Murphy asked, not sure he was going to like the answer. Laura stopped walking for a moment and with a rueful expression on her face answered, “Don’t ask.”

“Don’t tell,” Murphy retorted, as he tried to keep his jealousy in check. When I get my hands on that jerk, he thought angrily to himself.

Laura got a small tool out of her handbag and quickly picked the lock when they got to the room while Murphy kept a look out. They stepped inside, Laura trying to block out the memories of the time she had spent there with *Ben* or whatever the hell his name was, just the night before. Steadfastly trying to avert her eyes from the bed, she began searching the room as did Murphy.

“He certainly gets around,” she remarked as she found five passports hidden in a briefcase, all bearing the impostor’s photo but in different names and from different countries. “Douglas Quintain, England; Michael O’Leary, Ireland; Paul Fabrini, Italy; John Morrell, France; Richard Blaine, Australia”, she rattled them off as she went through them all, wondering what this guy’s game was. Obviously some sort of criminal with all those aliases – probably as Murphy had said, an international jewel thief. And she had fallen for his smooth talking lies she mentally berated herself.

“Wait a minute - run through those names again,” Murphy urged her as he looked at a book he’d found in the impostor’s suitcase.  
  
“Blaine, Morrell, Fabrini, O’Leary, Quintain,” Laura read them out again as Murphy laughed, “I don’t believe it,” looking at a particular page in the book about old Hollywood movies.

“I know, he doesn’t look like a Fabrini,” Laura replied, thinking that was what Murphy had laughed at.

“No - each of those names is from a character Humphrey Bogart played in the movies,” he stated.

Laura tossed the passports down saying, “Well, we know one thing.”

 “What?” Murphy asked.

“He likes Humphrey Bogart,” Laura replied with more than a little anger _._  
  
With an exasperated sigh she then went and checked the bathroom, forcing the image out of her head of him standing in it’s doorway that morning, looking drop dead gorgeous, wearing nothing but a towel and a grin. Damn you, she mentally cursed him – he had turned her life upside down in less than 24 hours, in more ways than one.

Deciding she needed to put her personal feelings to the side for the moment and concentrate on the job at hand, she then opened the door of the closet but found more than what she had bargained for. The real Ben Pearson’s lifeless body was hanging from the back of the door in a suit bag. Laura screamed in shock and ran towards Murphy, who caught her in his arms.  
  
“Well, now we know something else", Murphy stated seriously as he looked at the body.

“ What?” Laura asked.

“He’s a murderer,” Murphy replied as he reached for the phone.  
  
“What are you doing?” she asked him worriedly.

“Calling the police,” he informed her, thinking, isn’t it obvious?

“No!” Laura exclaimed. Even though he’d lied to her and she knew now he was a thief and con-artist, she just couldn’t believe the man she’d spent the previous night with was a murderer. She knew it was crazy, after all she didn’t even know his real name, let alone what he was capable of. But something in his eyes the night before and in his touch, had led her to believe that despite everything that was telling her the opposite, underneath it all was a man with a good heart. But there was also another reason she didn’t want to get the police involved at this stage – she wanted to expose him herself and bring him in, hoping to save what little reputation the agency would have left after this fiasco.

“Laura, the guy’s dangerous! Ask Ben Pearson just how dangerous,” Murphy pointed out in exasperation, thinking to himself the guy had obviously fooled her so good that she couldn’t see the truth.

“I want the agency to bring him in. It’s the only way we can come out even on this fiasco,” she stated adamantly then added, “Besides, he’s made the whole thing very personal,” thinking to herself what an understatement that was as she crossed her arms in front of her.  
  
Murphy put down the receiver, not quite believing what he was hearing. The Laura Holt he knew would never have fallen for some line spun by some jerk who looked good in a suit, and had a posh accent and some sort of smarmy charm. He supposed some women might find that attractive, but he’d always thought Laura was too smart to fall for a guy like that. And if he was being honest with himself, he was living in hope that one day she might some to see him as more than a friend, so the way she was carrying on about this lowlife both shocked him and riled him up.

 “He’s not gonna stick around after this,” he told her.

“He wants those gems. He won’t leave until he’s taken a shot at them,” Laura retorted.

“Laura, I hope it’s only the agency you’re trying to protect,” Murphy momentarily questioned her judgement as he gave her a knowing look.

“It’s the only thing I’m interested in, Murphy,” she replied, trying to convince him and herself.

“Okay” he agreed, deciding to give her the benefit of the doubt, hoping she was doing the right thing in deciding to follow that course of action.

                *******************************************************

Not long after, Laura returned to the emptied out function room to find Hunter sitting desolately by himself, a glass of wine in his hand. “Mr. Hunter?” she asked, wondering what was wrong with him and where everyone had gone, particularly Remington Steele’s impostor. Obviously somewhere trying to figure out how he could get his hands on the gems as quickly as possible, now that they were onto him, she thought wryly.

“Welcome to the party. Pull up an empty promise and sit down,” Hunter greeted her wryly.

“There may be an attempt to steal the gems, possibly tonight,” she informed him.

“The way my luck’s running, it’ll succeed,” he replied a little bitterly.

“We know who the potential thief is. We’re doing everything we can to locate him,” Laura continued but Hunter carried on as if he hadn’t even heard her – the gems were the least of his worries at the moment. “They ate my food, they drank my booze, but they didn’t buy my car,” he stated disconsolately.

“I’m sorry,” Laura said sympathetically as she sat down next to him.

“I completely retooled an abandoned tire factory in Toledo, hired 800 people to turn out a car nobody wants. Let me tell you, Miss Holt. Dreams aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.”

“No, Mr. Hunter,” Laura agreed, thinking of her own shattered dreams of a wonderful man who she had spent the most amazing night of her life with, who instead of being the man of her dreams as she’d imagined him to be, had turned out to be nothing but a lying crook.  She took the glass of wine from Hunter and sighed as she drained the rest of it then handed it back to him, “Sometimes, they aren’t”.  
  
                                                ************************************************


	10. Chapter 10

In ‘Remington Steele’s’ penthouse suite _,_ Harry was busy looking at the hotel floor plan when he heard the door handle rattling. He’d decided to go back there rather than his own room for two reasons – firstly he thought his own room would be the first place Laura & Murphy would go to looking for him, and secondly, as everyone else thought he was Remington Steele he thought he may as well avail himself of the advantages that went with that fact.

 He quickly hid the floor plan under the bed then walked to the door and recognized Laura’s hand trying to unhook the door’s chain. He slapped her hand away as she gasped.  
  
“Miss Holt, what a welcome surprise,” he greeted her as he let her in and closed the door behind her, both of them thinking of what had happened the last time they’d been in a hotel room together. He had to admit he was relieved to see her rather than Kessler and Neef, although from the less than happy look on her face he wondered if his relief was going to be shortlived. He doubted he’d be able to charm his way out of this one.

He was glad to find her unaccompanied though – he wanted to try and explain his actions to her, that even though he’d lied to her about his identity he hadn’t been lying the night before when they had made love. He had genuinely felt something for her which had caught him by surprise, and as was the case with him more often than not, his actions had spoken louder than his words.  
  
“How did you know where to find me?” he asked, impressed at her investigative skills at tracking him down.

“Since you seem to have acquired a taste for masquerading as Remington Steele, it was a logical place to look,” Laura replied as she gave him a knowing look.

“Ah!” he replied with a wry grin as he kicked the floor plan further under the bed in an attempt to keep it away from view.  
  
“Your brother, the courier..” Laura started, determined to call him out on his lie.

 “Devastating loss,” he interjected, faking a mournful look.

 “He was 63 years old,” Laura stated, giving him a skeptical look.

 “My older brother,” he replied in a vain attempt to convince her, but he knew she wasn’t fooled for an instant.

  
Much to his annoyance, Murphy Michaels then arrived. If he wasn’t mistaken (and knowing how to read people as he did he doubted very much that he was), Laura’s associate appeared to have a thing for her himself. Which would explain his overt animosity toward him he thought – well that and the fact he had lied about his identity and was actually a jewel thief as Murphy had suspected all along. ‘There goes my chance to talk to Laura alone’, he thought ruefully, wishing Michaels would bugger off.  
  
“Laura, get it over with and turn him in,” Murphy said as he came in the room, flashing the impostor a filthy look as he did so.

 “No need for that, I’ll confess. I’ll admit your intuition was correct - I am here for the gems. But not for myself, for a modest commission I intend to return them to their rightful owner—the South African government,” Harry admitted, finally coming clean as he looked at Laura.

“By stealing them?” she posed the question.

 “From the people who stole them,” he replied.

 “I think that’s just a technicality - you’re a thief,” Laura threw at him.

 “Kessler and Neff are thieves - I’m an artist”, Harry corrected her with more than a hint of pride as he pointed to himself with the pencil he held in his hand. He did regard what he did for a living as an art form – it took detailed planning, skillful execution and a lot of God given talent.

“You’re a murderer. Ben Pearson—the real Ben Pearson—is hanging from a coat hook in your room,” Murphy accused him as he tapped him hard on the shoulder.

 He looked at Murphy, realising his fears for the real Ben Pearson’s wellbeing had been justified. He immediately regretted asking him to take care of those two thugs, Kessler and Neef.

 “Oh, those filthy—,” he muttered angrily under his breath.

“Who?” Laura asked as he sighed.  
  
“Kessler and his ape, Neef. He was killed with a knife, wasn’t he? Blade about six inches long? An incision in upward thrust just below the third vertebra?” he asked.

“Hell of an accurate description for an innocent man,” Murphy threw at him dubiously.  
  
Harry huffed with consternation. “I’ve been chasing those two animals halfway across Europe. Believe me, I’m familiar with their work. If you want them, you’ll have to move fast. They’ll go for the gems tonight,” he informed them.

 “What makes you so certain?” Laura asked.

 “I would,” he replied, looking at Laura. Murphy let out an exasperated sigh as he turned away in disgust at the arrogance of this guy.

 But Harry didn’t hear him, or care what he thought about him. He was solely focused on Laura.

 “Do you still intend to?” Laura asked.

 “The thought has crossed my mind,” he answered truthfully.

 “Then I’d have to stop you,” Laura stated adamantly.

 “If you could,” he replied just as adamantly.

“Easy - I’d call the police,” she countered.

 “Why haven’t you already? Why aren’t they here now? Because you don’t believe I killed Ben Pearson,” he stated confidently, hoping that was the case. Suddenly, for some reason he couldn’t explain, all that mattered to him was convincing her he was innocent of such a diabolical crime.

 “I do,” Murphy said determinedly.

 “You don’t count – this is between Miss Holt and myself,” Harry retorted as he flashed a hard look at Murphy then turned his attention back to her. “Do you Laura?” he asked , his eyes meeting hers, willing her to believe him.

 “I don’t know,” Laura responded and it was true. Her logical, rational side was telling her this man could be capable of anything and would stop at nothing to get the gems. But her other side, the side that felt rather than thought, couldn’t believe he was a murderer. The look in his eyes as he waited for her answer, reminded her of the way he’d looked at her the other night when he’d asked her to stay with him and the vulnerability she saw there touched her.

 “Don’t waste time agonizing. Tell me. What would Remington Steele do in this situation?” he went on as he gave her a knowing look.

  “Call the police,” Murphy interjected, fighting the strong urge he had to deck this guy.

 “Then call them,” he replied, although his eyes were on Laura, waiting to see what she would do.  
  
Murphy picked up the phone as Harry pulled on his jacket.  
  
“Where are you going?” Murphy demanded.

 “I’ve been avoiding those two gentlemen all evening. I think it’s time they found me. I hope you’re not squeamish, Murphy,” he replied seriously, a plan quickly forming in his head.

  
“Not around you” Murphy threw at him.

 “Good. Then you won’t mind bringing Pearson’s body up here,” he replied as he buttoned his jacket then walked out the door, not before shooting one more look Laura’s way. Laura and Murphy exchanged a glance after he left, wondering what he was up to, then Murphy picked up the phone and rang the police.  
  
                                                ***************************************

 Harry then headed down to the hotel lobby and picking up a courtesy phone requested Remington Steele to be paged in the lobby. He knew Kessler and Neef would be lurking around somewhere and that would hopefully draw them out. It didn’t take long before a hotel clerk walked past, announcing a telephone call for Remington Steele.

“Here,” he said as he walked up to her and she led him to a phone. Just as he thought they would, the two thugs who had been hiding behind newspapers, spied him and quickly followed him.    
  
Harry picked up the phone saying “Steele here.”  
  
“We’ve been looking for you, Mr. Steele,” Neef stated menacingly as he and Kessler appeared on either side of him.

 “There’s no avoiding good friends, is there?” Harry stated wryly as he hung up the phone.

“This time, we brought our own transportation,” Kessler sneered as he pointed a gun into his back.

 “I’d wager you’d have an easier time cracking that safe if you had the specifications,” Harry informed them, laying out the bait.

 “Where would we get them?” Kessler took the bait.

“Remington Steele. After all, he’s the one that’s providing security for the gems. Shall we?” he replied as he gestured for them to head to Steele’s suite.  
  
He let them into the suite then Kessler demanded, “Where are they?” in reference to the specifications.  
  
He pointed at the closet. Neef opened it, to find Ben Pearson’s corpse hanging on the door.  
  
“Holy .. we left him in his room!” Neef exclaimed in shock as he pointed at Harry.

 “So you did gentlemen,” Harry stated triumphantly, his plan having worked perfectly, as the police with Laura and Murphy, who had been hiding in the bedroom suddenly appeared.

 Harry took the knife from Neef as he and Kessler were handcuffed, then handed it to the police saying, “I think your laboratory will find this to be the murder instrument”.

“Who are you?” Kessler asked dumbfounded, wondering how he not only had escaped their clutches yet again, but had also engineered their downfall.

“Are you kidding?” the police detective replied, “He’s Remington Steele”.  
  
The detective then shook ‘Remington Steele’s’ hand saying, “You’re as good as they say you are”.

 “The Remington Steele Agency is far more than one man, officer. On their behalf, I thank you,” Mr Steele’ stated as he turned to Laura who smiled at him, grateful for him continuing to uphold the charade of being her fictitious boss and also greatly relieved that he wasn’t a murderer.

 The police then left, leaving ‘Mr Steele’, Laura and Murphy in the room. Murphy, feeling a bit like a third wheel and getting the feeling Laura wanted to have a private conversation with ‘the impostor’ as he still thought of him, turned to Laura and asked with concern, “Will you be all right?”

‘Mr Steele’ looked at Laura, waiting for her answer. She nodded to Murphy reassuringly. Murphy reluctantly closed the door behind him and left them alone.  
  
“Well..,” ‘Mr Steele’ started, suddenly unsure of what to say. There was so much he wanted to say to her but words were something that didn’t come easily to him, well not ones that really mattered anyway.

 “Well..” Laura echoed as she watched him, wondering what he was going to say.

 “I’m afraid it’s time to leave your lovely city,” he stated, thinking to himself ruefully, and your lovely self Miss Holt, as he walked up to her.

“Where will you go?” she asked, wishing he didn't have to leave.

“Wherever the gems travel next,” he replied as he tugged on his earlobe. “San Francisco I believe. I give you my word, I won’t try to liberate the gems until they’re safely out of your jurisdiction,” he promised Laura as he moved closer to her and something in his eyes made her believe him.

“All things considered, you made a delightful Remington Steele,” Laura admitted with a dimpled smile.

“If the press of other commitments wasn’t so severe I might relish the role on a permanent basis”, he replied, surprising both Laura and himself. He had always made it a rule not to stay anywhere too long, but the events of the last few days had changed his mind somewhat in that regard.

As he looked at her he knew he wanted to kiss her, to feel the softness of her lips against his again, albeit for the last time, but he knew if he did that it would make it all that much harder to walk away from her. So he settled for taking one of her hands in his and kissing it, his eyes never leaving hers as he quipped with the hint of a lopsided grin, “After all, I’m a man who enjoys impossible challenges.”

 He then handed the room keys back to her and as their hands met they exchanged what they thought would be their last glance, both of them wondering what could have been, then he turned and walked out the door. Laura knew it made no sense, but as she watched him go, she felt like he took a piece of her with him…


	11. Chapter 11

The following day, ‘Remington Steele’ strode purposefully out of the hotel and made his way to a taxi to head to the airport. Laura spied him as she waited in the limo to oversee the operation to transport the gems back to the airport. As he got into the cab he looked across to see her in the limo. They shared a lingering look, a hint of that lopsided grin that did something to her she couldn’t explain crossing his face, and then he was gone.

Laura nodded, thinking to herself, it was time to come out of the fantasy world she had been living in for the past few days and rejoin the real world – he was gone and she would never see him again. And she had a job to do she reminded herself as she checked her watch.

  
Murphy then ran towards the limo and exclaimed urgently, “Laura! Somebody blindsided me.” Still holding his neck he got into the limo next to her. They both had a pretty good idea who that ‘someone’ would have been, keen to have one more crack at getting his hands on the gems obviously, although Murphy hadn’t seen who’d hit him before they grabbed the Royal Lavulite. “He lied to me! That treacherous thief lied to me!” Laura raged with both anger and disappointment as Fred took off for the airport.  
  
Meanwhile at the airport, ‘Mr Steele’ paid the cab driver hurriedly before getting out and heading quickly into the terminal, where he noticed Gordon Hunter answering questions from reporters.

 As the limo then pulled up outside the terminal, with Laura and Murphy inside, Laura spied ‘Mr Steele’ and yelled, “Stop that man! He’s a thief!”  
  
Murphy jumped out of the limo and ran after who he thought was the culprit, however when Hunter saw him running in his direction he started to run himself.  Murphy grabbed ‘Mr Steele’ then looked at Laura with puzzled surprise when it was Hunter who fled instead, realizing he was actually the one who had blindsided him and stolen the gems, not ‘Mr Steele’.

 Murphy then chased after Hunter as Laura grabbed ‘Mr Steele’ and asked in surprise, “You mean, you didn’t steal the gems?”

 He looked at her, his expression momentarily hurt. “Laura, I gave you my word,“ he replied, then added mischievously, “But they’re fair game now.” He then started running after Hunter as well with Laura in hot pursuit as she shouted after him, “Oh, no, they’re not!”  
  
Hunter jumped on a cart with Murphy on his tail. Murphy jumped on the back of the cart, and attempted to restrain Hunter, but Hunter turned sharply causing Murphy to fall off into a pile of boxes. ‘Mr Steele’ jumped on another cart to follow Hunter as Laura jumped on the back of it, leaning over him as she tried to steer.  
  
“Hold it—hold it steady!” she ordered as he tried his best to drive with Laura leaning over him. In an effort to hold on while he floored the cart to catch up with Hunter, Laura then wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re choking me!” ‘Mr Steele’ protested but Laura ignored him and just tried to grab the steering wheel again. “Give me that! Give it to me!” she demanded as she fought him for control of the steering wheel, ‘Mr Steele’ thinking to himself she was as equally frustrating as she was alluring.

 He found himself momentarily wondering what it would be like to be in a relationship with her - would she be this controlling? He could see them butting heads a lot if she was. And then when he realised with some surprise where his thoughts had strayed, he admonished himself – ‘What on earth are you doing mate, thinking about a relationship?’. He had spent the better part of his life running from such things, yet here he was thinking about one with a woman he had only met a few short days ago? And if her current behavior was anything to go by, it could be rather challenging to say the least. Ah, but you told her yourself you’re a man who enjoys impossible challenges, a little voice in his head reminded him, and who knows, it might be fun finding out.

Putting those thoughts to the back of his mind, he refocused on the job at hand, catching up to Hunter’s cart and rear-ending it, sending Hunter flying off the cart straight into a dumpster. “I take it you wanted to drive,” ‘Steele’ commented to Laura dryly as he shot her an exasperated look which she returned.


	12. Chapter 12

The following morning, Laura and Bernice arrived at the office building at the same time and rode up in the elevator together to the eleventh floor. As they went up, Bernice started reading the newspaper she had, which had a picture of Laura and ‘Remington Steele’ detaining Gordon Hunter plastered on the front page, under a headline reading _‘Steele Pure Gold’._  
  
“Remington Steele and unidentified woman..,” Bernice turned to Laura and pointed out, “That’s you,” before continuing reading, “rescue rare gems.”

“Poor Mr. Hunter. He wasn’t a thief, just a man who saw his dream going down in a sea of red ink. He wanted to use the gems to finance production of his automobile,” Laura stated sympathetically as they got out of the elevator.  
  
They entered the office to find a client waiting, both of them assuming Murphy must have got there early and opened up. “Good morning,” Laura greeted the client who replied, “Lester Giddons. I have a 9 o’clock with Remington Steele.”

“Oh, I’m afraid Mr. Steele was called away on urgent business,” Laura replied as she shot Bernice a rueful look, “in San Francisco, but we can use his office,” she explained as she pointed to ‘Remington Steele’s’ office. She had to admit it had been nice to actually have a ‘Mr Steele’ to present to the public, if only briefly, instead of having to keep up this charade, which she realised would be even harder now that there had been a face to go with the name. And what a face it had been, she found herself musing, as she turned to Bernice and said with a hopeful note in her voice, “If ah..anyone should call…”.

Knowing who she was referring to and deciding Laura needed a good, hard dose of reality Bernice replied with a knowing look,”He won’t”.  
  
Lester Giddons waited outside Remington Steele’s office then Laura opened the door for him, gesturing for him to go inside. AS he entered the office, Giddons greeted the man he found sitting behind the desk with some surprise, “Mr. Steele - I thought you were in San Francisco”.  
  
Trying to hide her excitement as she flashed a surprised look at Bernice, Laura entered the office to find *him* sitting behind the desk, his blue eyes on her.

“I was, but…suddenly, there was nothing for me to do up there,” ‘Mr Steele’ replied, his eyes never leaving Laura’s as he stood up. He then went and closed the office door and standing beside Laura asked the client, “Now – how can I help you?”, a lopsided grin spreading across his face as he crossed his arms and Laura looked at him, a mix of emotions whirling inside her.

                                                 ********************************

After the client left, suitably impressed by ‘Mr Steele’ and his assurances that he and ‘his most able associate Miss Holt’ could certainly help him with his case, Laura closed the door to the office then crossing her arms in front of her asked the man masquerading as ‘her boss’, “Now what on earth do you think you’re doing?”. Although if she was being perfectly honest with herself, there was part of her that was thrilled to see him again.

He leant back in the chair and steepled his fingers together as he looked at her, Laura trying not to melt under the intensity of those blue eyes of his. “I have a proposition for you Laura,” he stated, a lopsided grin crossing his face.

“I think we’ve already crossed that bridge don’t you?” she replied wryly as she gave him a knowing look.

“Touche’,” he chuckled, his grin getting a bit wider, as a particular vivid memory of the night they had spent together came back to him. “And while that’s a very appealing idea that’s not the type of proposition I’m talking about,” he replied, then couldn’t help but adding as he cocked a mischievous eyebrow at her, “At the moment anyway.”

Trying to ignore his innuendo and curious as to what he had in mind, Laura sat down opposite him. “I’m listening,” she stated expectantly, figuring it couldn’t hurt to at least hear him out.

“Well it seems to me we have the perfect opportunity here to help each other out. Thanks to the media coverage of the Hunter case, my face is plastered all over your local newspapers as your esteemed Mr Steele, not to mention all the folks who witnessed Hunter introduce me as such at his little soiree. So as I don’t currently have any other pressing commitments I’m offering you my services, so you can have a face to go with the name. You wouldn’t have to make excuses for Mr Steele’s absence any more or go to such elaborate lengths to create the illusion of his existence,” he stated his case.

“So in other words, I do the work and you take the bows?” Laura asked wryly.

“Well yes.. I guess that’s how it would work,” he agreed and then reminded her with a grin, “After all you are the licensed private investigator. And you said so yourself remember, that I made a delightful Remington Steele.”

He watched her, trying to read her expression as he wondered if she was going to go for it or not. He could see that incredible brain of hers ticking it over.

“And what do you get out of this?” Laura asked a little dubiously. He’d definitely made some good arguments as to why an ‘arrangement’ between them made sense but she still didn’t completely trust him. Was he just looking for another angle to make a fast buck and leave her just as fast?

“Well I’m a free agent at the moment – no commitments, no ties, no fixed abode. So that apartment you’ve got rented in Mr Steele’s name seems rather appealing, not to mention the chauffeur driven limousine and perhaps a tailor made suit or two thrown into the mix,” he stated with a mischievous gleam in his blue eyes as Laura realised he had certainly done his homework on Remington Steele and all she had set up to create the illusion of her fictional superior. And then his expression got serious as he looked at her intently and said, “And there is another reason I would like to stay a while longer if I could,” and even though he didn’t directly say it, she knew, well she hoped, he was talking about her. And whether she wanted to admit it or not, that thought appealed to her very much.

But she knew she had to make this decision with her head rather than her heart so although she could see it working, she knew they would have to set some boundaries.

“If I agree to this.. and that’s a big if,” Laura reminded him, “we’ll have to have some strict rules in place.”

“Oh absolutely,” he agreed hurriedly then stopped, realizing what she’d said. “Wait – rules? What rules?”

“Well for starters you won’t directly involve yourself in any cases - we’ll tell clients you function best in an ‘advisory capacity’. And you’ll leave the detective work to the detectives.”

“Okay.. fair enough,” he agreed.

“Also, you can’t do anything that could jeopardize the reputation of the agency – that means your former ‘activities’ for want of a better word are out. I’ve worked too hard to build this agency up to risk it with anything like that,” she stated adamantly as she looked at him intently. He looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment or two but eventually nodded in agreement.

“And this is the most important one..we can’t mix business with pleasure. So what happened between us the other night can never happen again,” Laura added seriously as he looked both disappointed and perplexed.

“Never?” he repeated in shock. Surely she couldn’t be serious after they had had such an amazing night (and morning) together he thought to himself? He didn’t believe for an instant he was the only one who had enjoyed that tryst immensely.

“Never,” she confirmed although there was part of her that was telling her that was crazy and that she would never be able to stick to it. But she knew if she allowed herself to get involved with him on a personal level as well as a professional level it would only make things way too complicated. And truth be told she didn’t entirely trust herself not to fall for him if she allowed that to happen.

When he realised she was in fact serious he reluctantly agreed with a sigh. “Okay, okay but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop wanting you or trying to change your mind on that point,” as he flashed her a cheeky lopsided grin and the desire filled look he gave her almost made her cave right then and there, but somehow she managed to hold it together and stand her ground.

“Any more rules?” he asked expectantly.

“No I think that should do it.. for now,” Laura stated as he breathed a sigh of relief. He had never really been a fan of rules – it was much more fun to break them he had always found.

“Well I’ve agreed to your conditions. So what do you say eh?” he asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.

She was quiet for a few moments as she made her mind up. “Okay Mr Steele you’ve got yourself a deal,” Laura finally stated after what seemed like an eternity to him, wondering to herself if she was going to regret this, as she offered her hand to him to shake to seal the deal. Mr Steele however had other ideas as he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, his eyes twinkling mischievously at her as he replied, “It’s a deal Miss Holt.”

“And that’ll be enough of that,” she warned him as she pulled her hand away, although she had secretly found the gesture charming. “Oh come on Laura – a man’s got to have some fun,” he quipped with a cheeky wink as she couldn’t help but smile at him, thinking to herself, “Oh this is going to be interesting, in more ways than one – Laura, what have you done?”


	13. Epilogue

 

Not long after they’d finished nutting out their agreement, Murphy barged into the office after Bernice had told him who was in there, once he arrived at the agency. “Laura – what’s going on? What the hell is HE doing here?’ he demanded angrily as he took in the sight of that conniving, good for nothing jewel thief sitting in what was usually ‘the boss’s’ (ie. Laura’s) chair. At that, said thief stood up with that infuriating grin on his face and greeted him with, “Murphy my good man – there’s something Laura would like to tell you,” then he went to walk out the door, much to Laura’s surprise.

“You’re not going to hang around while I tell him?” she asked. “As entertaining as that might be.. no. I have a few things to tie up but rest assured I will be back,” Mr Steele replied, his last statement directed at the other man who glared at him.

“Tell me what Laura?” Murphy interjected with a frown as he was suddenly getting a bad feeling about this.

At that Mr Steele walked out of the office, closing the door behind him then he walked past Bernice’s desk and said to her, “Carry on Miss Wolf.” He winked at her in response to her bemused look as he sailed out the agency door, the sound of Murphy yelling, in shock and anger in response to Laura’s revelation, “You did what??!!” music to his ears. ‘Oh yes, this is going to be fun..’ he chuckled to himself as a cheeky lopsided grin crossed his face..

 

 

To be continued in 'Tempered Steele - Redux'


End file.
